Rules Are Made to be Broken
Sometimes sanity is about breaking the rules.
During the bulk of the operating days of my first business, a storefront in Albuquerque, I spent every Sunday afternoon at the Starbucks down the street. I went there to sip overpriced coffee and sit in front of the fireplace (this Starbucks had a fireplace) in big comfy chair (this Starbucks had a big comfy chair) and read the New York Times.
Let me make this clear, our store was open on Sundays afternoons. Starbucks was open for hours before my store was every Sunday morning. I had no excuse in all the world not to sip overpriced coffee in front of a fireplace in a big comfy chair and read the New York Times at seven in the morning or even at nine in the morning. We did not open until noon. Yet there I was, taking two and a half hours off of work in the middle of every Sunday afternoon to sip overpriced coffee and…well, you get the idea.
Why did I do that? Well, at first I did not. In our first few months of operation I faithfully committed myself to the business, missing not one day, not one minute of work. After a while, I came to realize that my partner could handle a few hours without me. I realized that taking a break, not before or after hours, not during the prescribed “taking a break” times, but taking a break right in the middle of the day, kept me happy. It kept me sane.
I had to cheat. I had to break the rules, break the schedule, break the routine. I tell you, Starbucks coffee has never tasted so good. Cushy chairs have never felt so soft, nor fires so warming, nor the New York Times so engrossing before or since. Because I took these little breaks, I never begrudged my partner the extra few hours she slept in some mornings. I smiled and opened our doors and looked forward to next Sunday’s New York Times.
Leave a Comment